sidewheeler

For 1864, the daybook records for the Howard Shipyard at Jeffersonville, Ind., list only contracts for the construction of a wharfboat for the Louisville & Cincinnati Mail Line and three… Read More

A recent acquisition to the writer’s collection is this week’s Old Boat Column image of the packet James Howard alongside a wharfboat at the St. Louis levee. In 1870, Capt. Read More

One of this writer’s favorite steamboats built by the Howard Shipyard at Jeffersonville, Ind., was the Sunshine. Launched on May 3, 1888, for a contract price of $21,750, the wood-hulled… Read More

In 1900, the Howard Shipyards built a beautiful and large sidewheeler named Indiana. Constructed on a wood hull measuring 285 feet in length by 45 feet in width, the boat… Read More

With Election Day approaching and campaigns heating up, the Old Boat Column this week features a steamboat named for a famous politician. Erastus Wells was born in 1823 at Sackets… Read More

There was grand excitement along the St. Louis levee 150 years ago when the steamer Rob’t. E. Lee triumphantly arrived on July 4, 1870, hours ahead of the Natchez after… Read More

Among the beautiful big sidewheelers built on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Ind., was the palatial packet Katie. Built in 1871, the steamboat was not constructed by the Howard Shipyard,… Read More

Built for the United States Mail Line in 1882, the sidewheeler City of Madison was constructed at its namesake city on the Ohio River in southern Indiana. The wooden hull… Read More

Eagerly awaited by Civil War and steamboat historians, a new DVD entitled “Remember the Sultana” is now available. The 96-minute documentary presents the riveting story of the horrific explosion of… Read More

For a contract cost of $40,900, the beautiful sidewheeler Tarascon was constructed on a wooden hull 250 feet in length by 38 feet in width at Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1863… Read More